Located in southern Finland, Espoo is the second-largest city in the country and part of Greater Helsinki, along with the capital and surrounding towns Vantaa and Kauniainen. Espoo shares its border with Helsinki and has a population of more than 280,000.
IT salaries
The average IT salary in Espoo stands at about €4,085 per month or €49,020 per year.
Here are the average IT salaries in Espoo depending on the specialization (€ per month, before taxes):
- Software developer: 3,670
- Front-end developer: 3,990
- DevOps engineer: 3,730
- Database administrator: 4,200
- Web designer: 2,010
- System administrator: 4,090
- IT project manager: 5,110
- QA engineer: 2,620
- Technical writer: 2,975
- Security analyst: 3,480
Economy
Espoo is one of the most important and innovative ICT centers in Finland and Europe.
The unemployment rate in Espoo stood at about 8.4% before the COVID-19 pandemic — almost at the same level as the national average of around 8.5%.
Important economic sectors in Espoo include:
- Energy
- Engineering
- ICT
- Pharmaceuticals
- Science
- Video games
The city is home to Espoo Innovation Garden in the Keilaniemi—Otaniemi—Tapiola area. It’s the largest innovation hub in Northern Europe that was awarded the world’s most Intelligent Community 2018. It consists of Aalto University, numerous startups, hundreds of international companies, 25 research and development (R&D) units, with 5,000 researchers, workers of 100 nationalities, and at least one startup borning each week.
The largest and most popular technology companies present in Espoo include the following:
- Hewlett Packard
- HMD Global
- Fortum
- Intel
- Kone
- Microsoft Mobile
- Nokia
- Remedy Entertainment
- Rovio
- Tieto
Cost of living
The average monthly costs in Espoo are about €745 for a single person or €2,755 for a four-person family (excluding rent).
Here are examples of the average prices in Espoo (€):
- Meal at McDonald’s: 7–9
- Meal at another inexpensive restaurant: 10–20
- Average food basket (milk, bread, eggs, cheese, chicken, apples, potatoes, water, beer): 25
- Monthly fee at a fitness club: 20–60
- Monthly pass: 55–70
- Monthly rent (1 bedroom): 500 – 1,100
- Monthly rent (3 bedrooms): 900 – 2,000
- Property prices per square meter: 3,000 – 8,000
- Utilities: 40–160 per month
- Internet: 15–30 per month
Travel
Espoo is well-served by public transport, through the Helsinki commuter rail network, the Helsinki Metro’s Länsimetro extension, and buses.
The closest airport is the international Helsinki Airport, located in the neighboring city of Vantaa, with frequent service to many destinations in Europe and Asia, including Antalya, Bangkok, Beijing, Chengdu, Delhi, Istanbul, Minsk, Moscow, New York, Shanghai, and many others.
Entertainment
Although Espoo is relatively densely populated, it has large amounts of natural wilderness, namely 71 lakes and six Natura 2000 protected areas.
Espoo’s places of interest include the Espoo Museum of Modern Art, the Espoo cultural center, several old manors, and more.